2 Palestinian teens reported killed in clashes with IDF

(JTA) — Two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead in clashes with Israeli troops during riots in the West Bank and Gaza.

Amir Abd al-Hamid Abu Musaed, 16, was killed from a gunshot to the chest during clashes Friday alongside the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

Ali Omar Kino, also 16, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a Nablus hospital with a gunshot wound to his head, Ma’an also reported. He died in clashes that erupted in the Tel and Iraq Burin villages of southern Nablus in the northern West Bank.

In December, the Israel Security Agency documented a near tripling of terrorist attacks against Israelis last month, reaching a two-year high of 249 incidents.

The attacks in December resulted in no fatalities or major injuries to any of the intended victims. More than 90 percent of the incidents recorded in December involved the hurling of firebombs. Attacks from the Gaza Strip, including the launching of a total of 19 rockets into Israel, increased dramatically from November, when only one such incident was recorded.

The leap in the number of attacks corresponded with an uptick in terrorist activity following President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 declaration that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The December total of 249 incidents — a 296-percent rise over the 84 recorded in November – is also the sharpest monthly rise in attacks since 2014 at least.